I will dismiss this digression with a single instance
of my experience in seeking information from one of the younger West
Pointers. It occurred while I was still adjutant and shortly before my
promotion. Some special detailed report was called for. There were so
many of these wanted, with so many minute and intricate details, that I
cannot remember what this particular one was, but they were enough
almost to drive a man to drink. This one, I remember, utterly stumped
me, and I rode over to Captain Mason, assistant adjutant-general of our
brigade, a thoroughly competent officer, for information. He looked at
it a moment, then said: "It beats me; but go down to corps head-quarters
and you will find Lieutenant----, a regular army officer, whose business
it is to give just such information as you require." I rode there at
once and inquired for Lieutenant----, as directed. The reply was, "Here
he is. What in h----l do you want?" Not specially reassured by this
inquiry, I handed him the paper and made known my wishes for
information. He literally threw it back at me with the reply, "Go to
h----l and find out." I replied that from his manner of speech I appeared
to be pretty near there now. I went back to Captain Mason and recounted
my experience, to his intense disgust, but that was all that ever came
of it. We volunteers learned to avoid a regular officer, especially of
the young West Point type, as we would a pestilence.

Returning now to my picket duties of that day, a third incident occurred
in the afternoon. The captain of the picket came into our office at the
Lacey House with the information that there was a hail from the opposite
bank of the river with a flag of truce--a small white flag. We all
rushed out, and General Sully directed the captain to take a corporal's
guard--a corporal and four men--from his reserve, and go down to the
water's edge under a like flag and inquire what was wanted. This
formality, he said, was necessary to properly recognize their flag of
truce, and to guard against a possible fake or bit of treachery. The
reply from the other side was that a young woman in Fredericksburg was
exceedingly desirous of reaching her home some distance within the Union
lines, and would the Union commander receive a communication upon the
subject. General Sully replied that he would receive their communication
and forward it to head-quarters, whereupon an orderly was sent over in a
boat with the communication. H